'Man of Steel' Countdown: Response to Superman Haters, Possible Batman Team Up and More

Being a Superman fan in 2013 is like following a favorite sports team that was once number one and finally returns to the glory it once had. Superman topped all other comic book sales from his inception in 1938 until Batman overtook him in 1986. That’s nearly 50 years of being not only the first superhero, but the best-selling. So why is it that at his 75th anniversary, some online writers want to make their mark by showing why Superman isn’t good enough?

Why does it make someone “cool” to rip on Superman? Why do people agree with it? Why are there still so many quiet fans who know better and fall silent when another person says, “I hate Superman?” This kind of thing doesn’t happen to Batman, Spider-Man or Wolverine.

Then you have the passionate fans who for one reason or another have decided in advance that there’s no way Man of Steel could possibly be any good because the character has been changed and updated again. Many sound like this (although here it’s a joke):

I find two options.

1) I shrug my shoulders and let it go because there’s no point in convincing people just how cool I find Superman to be if they’ve already decided otherwise. As my friend Michael Bailey put it, “Trying to convince someone that doesn’t like Superman to like Superman is like teaching a pig to sing. It frustrates you and it pisses off the pig.”

2) I point out that Superman’s goodness is not a detractor. Perhaps disliking him for wanting to do good says more about YOUR character than his. After all, what’s so funny about truth and justice? Granted, it’s hard to buy into an altruist character who hasn’t been corrupted by his own supreme power. But can’t that teach us something valuable about ourselves?

I grew up with Christopher Reeve as “My Superman,” but eventually found I love certain things about every other version of the character, which by my count, means about 100 different continuities. There are things I love about each and things I don’t care for. The only real question is, can Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel return our hero to the glory he once enjoyed? We’ll find out when the movie hits theaters in 16 days.

New TV Spots

Six new TV advertisements for Man of Steel hit the airwaves this week, each with new footage. Have you caught them all?

The costume is obviously a crucial part of the Superman iconography. How did you go about bringing it to the screen?

It’s a daunting process, because you want to be true, and we’re very respectful of the canon. But you also have to look at what’s happening on the screen right now with superhero costumes. It has to be relatable to a modern audience. But at the same time you don’t want to say “Who is that? That kinda looks like Superman…” It has to read, at first blush, as Superman. We went through so many iterations of the costume and yes, Zack did try very hard to make the underpants on the outside of the costume work – there are nods to it, with the belt and with some of the side detail on the costume, and that just felt more appropriate to the movie we were making. The other thing that was important for Zack was that the costume not come out of nowhere. It had to have a reason. We were building a world. We go to Krypton and we see this world, and we see that everything has its place. If they’re in space he wanted it to feel like a space suit, and he wanted it to feel like the underlayer that they would maybe put armour over. It’s also a caped society, so when you go to Krypton he wanted to see variations of this costume. And knowing that it was a caped society he wanted that to be evident when we were on Krypton, so when Clark finally finds the costume and puts it on you’ve established where it’s come from.

In addition to the Cool Kids Meals with Superman toys and a 40 oz. collector cup, Carl’s Jr. and Hardees have a new “Super Bacon Cheeseburger,” a Superman-themed sandwich boasting six strips of bacon. Take a look at this amusing TV advertisement.

Kryptonian Glyph Creator

The official Man of Steel website is promoting the movie with a free app to create your own pentagonal glyph symbol for use on social media and general enjoyment. Simply answer a few multiple choice questions and receive the photo.

The official site has also posted a free online game called “Metropolis Mayhem." Fly Superman through Metropolis while avoiding objects, plasma beams and guided rockets while destroying opponents with heat vision and collecting “S” shields to up your power.

Williams composed the score for the first Christopher Reeve Superman movies (among MANY other films), and his theme has been used by other composers for four sequels and other projects like the new Lego Batman DVD. In an interview with Zap 2 It, he spoke candidly about his thoughts on Man of Steel.

"I haven't seen it," he tells Zap2it, "but I'm sure it will be wonderful. I don't know if they've used any of the original music or not; it's a Warner Bros. film, in which case, they certainly have the right to do so (having also made the earlier Superman movies). I hope it will be successful, and I look forward to seeing it."

Which isn't to say Williams won't find watching it bittersweet: "It puts me in mind of the late Chris Reeve, who we all loved so much. It's going to be hard for me not to let go of the music, but to let go of the idea of Superman being Chris. I thought he not only made that project successful, he embodied what all of us imagine Superman to look like if he could be given skin and bone, I think."

Cavill Intrigued by Possible Movie Team Up with Batman

Although Superman and Batman tended to be the best of friends for over 40 years, comic book writers of the 1980s decided they should be skeptical of each other since their methods have to be so diametrically opposed. Superman may show up to stop a villain once he has struck, but Batman is more likely to intimidate a witness in order to find the villain before he can strike. So how do the two work together?

"I think it would be really interesting with the age-old Batman/Superman conflict," he tells SFX, "because they are two different sides of the same coin and their methods are entirely different. And I think it would actually make for an interesting story as to why, first of all, they were going head-to-head and how. I think that would make a great story."

After Man of Steel, would you prefer a Superman/Batman team up, or a full Justice League film?

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